Marisa’s Holiday Flicks Picks

If your family spends X-mas at the IMAX, consult this handy guide to 2010’s best holiday movies

Marisa LaScala

Almost everyone I know — no matter what religion or which holidays they celebrate — goes out to the movies on Christmas Day.

In my own family, it’s certainly become a tradition. We have a big Christmas Eve dinner. We get up early in the morning on Christmas to open presents. We have a huge breakfast. Then, we go to the movies and eat Chinese food, just like everyone else who doesn’t celebrate Christmas. It’s a blending of cultures, we like to say.

For us, the discussion starts early: What should we see? What movies are out? What’s getting the Oscar buzz? What are we in the mood for?

If your family is similarly indecisive, I’ve volunteered my services to help. Consult my handy guide to holiday movies that cater (almost) to your every whim. Just make sure to get tickets online or show up to the box office really early — it gets crowded on Christmas!

I don’t want to think about it too much. What’s probably the best movie to see on Christmas?Short answer: True GritYou can skip the rest of this post. Think about it: even without the early good reviews, True Grit — which is another movie made from the Charles Portis novel, and not exactly a remake of the John Wayne film — has something for everybody. The older generation will like that it reminds them of the Duke, while the younger generation will dig that it’s directed by the Coen Brothers. It has a strong female character in the young Mattie Ross, but a Western sensibility keeps it from being a chick flick. It’s rated PG-13, so you can bring most of your family. And it stars Jeff Bridges — the Dude! Who doesn’t love the Dude? The Dude abides.

Not sold? Don’t worry, I've got some more suggestions:

I’m looking for something a little cuddlier, that’ll put everyone in a holly, jolly moodSee: How Do You KnoworThe King’s SpeechThe first, from James L. Brooks — the man that brought us the tug-at-the-heartstrings As Good As It Gets (and The Mary Tyler Moore Show) — comes another emotional comedy made from the same mold as his previous Jack Nicholson hit. In it, Reese Witherspoon plays a professional athlete torn between her baseball-playing boyfriend (Owen Wilson) and a down-on-his-luck corporate love interest (Paul Rudd). Sure, the premise is as old as Reality Bites, but it looks far more charming — and good ol’ Jack Nicholson returns to sleaze things up a little. Or, there’s the film about everybody’s favorite subject: World War II. (Fine, it may not seem so cuddly on the outset, but give it a chance.) In The King’s Speech, Colin Firth plays King George VI, and Geoffrey Rush is the vocal coach tasked with getting rid of the King’s stammer so he can rally his country before the war. Nothing says the holidays like a satisfying rallying speech.

I just can’t hide my local pride. Can I see a movie this Christmas and support a local neighbor?Sure you can:The FighterIgnore the rampant, flat, Bostonian accents. The Fighter comes to us from David O. Russell — director of the existential I Heart Huckabees — who, according to his IMDb page, went to Mamaroneck High School. Let’s hope that his growing up in the Sound Shore village gave him enough street cred to tell the story of comeback-boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his crack-addicted brother (Christian Bale).

I own a lot of pairs of Chuck Taylors. What movie can I wear them to?Slip on those sneaks and take them to see: SomewhereThis is a Sofia Coppola joint, so you’ll find yourself at home in her hipster milieu — think of the disaffected youngsters in her Lost in Translation or Marie Antoinette (who, in Coppola’s vision, also wore Converse sneakers; see the third photo down). This time, Coppola focuses on an actor (remember Stephen Dorff?) living the fashionable party-hopping lifestyle — which we assume Coppola knows all too well, since she has her own namesake Champagne-in-a-can, after all — and his attempt to maintain that lifestyle while also taking care of his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning). All music in film is done by French band Phoenix — we’re pretty sure they have some cool sneakers, too.

My mind was, like, totally blown by Avatar last year. Got anything like that?See: Tron LegacyStory and characters don’t mean as much to you as mind-boggling visuals, which Tron Legacy has in spades. I mean, have you seen any of those light-up suits yet? We’ve come a long way in futuristic fashion since 1982. To really make your head explode, you can see Tron Legacy in IMAX. (But I have to remind you that only New Roc City in New Rochelle and the Palisades Mall in Nyack have the huge screens you’ve come to associate with IMAX theaters.) Best of all: Tron Legacy stars Jeff Bridges — the Dude! The Dude still abides.

Forget Avatar — I loved Up in the Air. What’s out there for me?See: The Company MenWow, you must be fun at cocktail parties. If it’s downsizing dramas you’re into, then The Company Men is your jam. In it, Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, and Tommy Lee Jones all play men who have recently been laid off. I don’t want to spoil anything, but their bosses don’t show up on Christmas Day with a fat goose and an extra lump of coal.

That’s more like it — nice and grim. My friends call me “Debbie Downer,” and I’m looking for a major bummer to counteract all the holiday goodwill. You’re in luck: Rabbit HoleorBlue ValentinePick your cheer-deflating poison. Are you recently single? There’s nothing worse than being dumped around the holidays. Take your bitter self out to see Blue Valentine, which portrays a couple — played by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams — at various stages in their relationship, from the cute-happy meeting to the intensely bad breakup. (A juicy tidbit about the film: It recently got downgraded from an NC-17 rating to an R.) If that’s not soul-crushing enough for you, Rabbit Hole is another film about a couple (this time, Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) also in relationship peril, only, in this film, it’s because of the sudden death of their child. The play the movie is based on was set in Larchmont... but let’s hope this doesn’t hit close to home for anyone.

Are you kidding me? I can’t bring my kids to any of these!Yikes. It’s not looking good for parents this Christmas. Kids’ offerings seem especially chintzy. You’ve got the laying-it-on-thick wonderment of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Jack Black’s schticky take on Gulliver’s Travels, or the Hanna-Barbera-meets-the-uncanny-valley mess that is Yogi Bear (all in 3D, no less.) Hopefully, you haven’t yet seen Tangled, Megamind, or, if they’re a little older, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Those are all much better bets.

What are you planning on seeing this Christmas? Let me know in the comments.

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About This Blog

Marisa LaScala

Elmsford, NY

Associate Editor Marisa LaScala joined Westchester magazine in 2003, and ever since she's blown every paycheck at the Greenburgh Multiplex. She also staunchly defends Richard Kelly, doesn't mind spoiling the endings of trashy movies you're curious about but don't want to pay to see, wishes the Hold Steady would come back and rock out Westchester, misses Arrested Development more than anyone can imagine, and still watches cartoons and Saturday Night Live. You can find more of her cultural criticism atwww.popmatters.com, where she is a staff writer.